New Delhi, Sep 24: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for biennial elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The elections will fill four vacant seats that arose following the retirement of the former members representing the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.
The members whose terms had expired are Mir Mohammad Fayaz and Shamsher Singh (retired on February 10, 2021), and Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmed Laway (retired on May 15, 2021).
The seats remained vacant due to the absence of a legislative electorate after the bifurcation of the State into two Union Territories — Jammu & Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature) — under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
With the formation of the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly, the ECI now has the required electorate to conduct the elections. The biennial polls will be held in three separate cycles, filling one, one, and two seats respectively, following the legal precedent that separate elections must be held for seats falling in different categories.
The key dates for the election process are:
Issue of Notifications: October 6, 2025
Last date for nominations: October 13, 2025
Scrutiny of nominations: October 14, 2025
Last date for withdrawal: October 16, 2025
Date of poll and counting: October 24, 2025, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (counting at 5:00 PM)
Election completion deadline: October 28, 2025
The Commission also emphasized that only the integrated violet-colored sketch pens provided by the Returning Officer shall be used to mark preferences on the ballot paper. Observers will be appointed to ensure the elections are free and fair.
The term of office of the newly elected members will be subject to the decision of the Supreme Court in the matter of ECI vs. Devesh Chandra Thakur & Others (SLP(C) No. 17123/2015).
Under Secretary, Rajesh Kumar Singh, highlighted that the elections are being conducted in strict accordance with legal provisions and prior judicial rulings.
